The number one difference between a Sankalpa and an intention

I have some exciting news to share… one of my yoga nidra meditation audios was published on a meditation app called Insight Timer! The app is free and my meditation is free as well. In the practice of yoga nidra, you work with a Sankalpa (or an intention). To be honest, I use “Sankalpa” and “intention” interchangeably because many people don’t know what a Sankalpa is and they connect more with the word intention.

An intention can be a positive I AM statement.

I’m sure you’ve seen these intentions all over Instagram and Pinterest:

I am enough

I am happy

I am determined

A Sankalpa should be phrased that way as well, so what makes it so different from an intention?

For a better understanding of what a Sankalpa is, check out my latest eBook - How to Set a Sankalpa. I go over what it is and how to discover, create, structure and nourish your Sankalpa. In the eBook, I share three main differences between an intention and a Sankalpa and I’m going to tell you all about one of them right now.

The number one difference between a Sankalpa and an intention is where you use your Sankalpa in a meditation practice. You say your Sankalpa in your mind at the beginning and the end of your meditation practice. That might seem pretty standard, but there’s a specific reason for it when you’re working with your Sankalpa during a yoga nidra meditation. Toward the end of a yoga nidra practice your body is asleep and your mind is awake. Your brainwaves have slowed down from beta to alpha to theta, which means you’re able to access your subconscious mind.

* The subconscious mind: Think of the subconscious mind as the storage room of everything that is currently not in your conscious mind. The subconscious mind stores all of your previous life experiences, your beliefs, your memories, your skills, all situations you've been through and all images you've ever seen. our subconscious mind is like a huge memory bank. Its capacity is virtually unlimited and it permanently stores everything that ever happens to you. * see link at the bottom of the blog for sources. I highly recommend reading Brian Tracy’s blog post on the subconscious mind.

When you’re able to access your subconscious mind, you’re able to access all that information… yes, including memories from 10, 20, 50 years ago. Pretty cool eh? When you’re in your subconscious mind you’re able to access any limiting beliefs and you have the power to transform them. Basically, your mind is in a very suggestible state because you’re on the bridge of theta brain waves and you’re between the state of being awake and asleep.

If you have an intention that you’re working with, saying in the mirror five times a day, writing in your journal etc. Don’t get me wrong that is a cool, powerful practice as well and I do it too! But the greatest difference with a Sankalpa is that specific place you use it during meditation when you’re in your subconscious mind can affect the underlying energy of your life, which can IMMEDIATELY release a limiting belief, welcome an aspect of your life’s potential or bring instantaneous healing.

If you want to try setting a Sankalpa and using in a yoga nidra meditation, check out my free audio recording on Insight Timer! It’s a meditation app filled with all sorts of great resources! My yoga nidra audio is completely free! There is a donate button on the thing, but please don’t use it. To be honest, someone who I don’t know donated to me on it and I have no clue where the money went, haha! I did not publish the meditation in hopes of receiving donations and didn’t even know that was an option.

The yoga nidra meditation is 27 minutes long and you might fall asleep the first 45 times you try it - don’t give up! Yoga nidra is the most restorative, healing and magical meditation I have ever experienced, which is why I pursued a training in it, offer it in the Soul Squad (online yoga program) and teach it in-person wherever I can, right now that’s at lululemon Store Support Centre in Vancouver, BC. If you know of any people or places in Vancouver that could use some yoga nidra, please let me know!

To try out my yoga nidra meditation audio:

Download Insight Timer

Open the app and create an account

Search Sam Squire

I only have one meditation published called - yoga nidra

Lay down somewhere comfortable in a dark quite room, put in headphones and listen!

Enjoy! Please feel free to share this resource with your family and friends. Let me know what you think of it after you have a chance to listen.